Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Ahead of Print.
Anil Kumar Sarkar, Tribes of Sub-Himalayan Region: Meches, Rabhas, Totos and Garos New Delhi: Mittal Publications,, 2021, 178 pp, ₹700. ISBN: 978-8194936084.
Category Archives: Contemporary Voice of Dalit: Table of Contents. SAGE Publications India: Contemporary Voice of Dalit: Table of Contents Feed Posts Authors Categories
Intergenerational Educational and Occupational Mobility across Caste Groups in West Bengal
Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Ahead of Print.
Intragenerational and intergenerational mobility are two important parameters of social mobility. The study of educational and occupational mobility across caste groups will help to understand how caste affiliation influences the pattern of intergenerational mobility. The data from India Human Development Survey 2012 has been used in this study which collects data on fathers’ and sons’ educational and occupational information. This study uses mobility matrices and aggregate measures based on them to understand the son’s position with respect to the father’s position. It is evident from this study that educational and occupational mobility in Bengal is associated with the social position of the caste groups. In comparison to the other castes, the Forward caste has a higher proportion of sons who have completed higher education. In comparison to the other caste groups, the sons of the Forward caste experienced the least downward mobility in education. On the other hand, upward mobility is highest among the Forward caste and lowest among the OBC. The caste-based pattern is also prevalent in downward mobility, immobility and upward mobility in occupation. The sons of the Forward caste had the greatest upward mobility, followed by SC and OBC. On the contrary, down mobility is highest for the SC’s son followed by the OBC and Forward caste. It is quite clear that caste does matter and matters deeply in Bengal’s socio-economic landscape.
Intragenerational and intergenerational mobility are two important parameters of social mobility. The study of educational and occupational mobility across caste groups will help to understand how caste affiliation influences the pattern of intergenerational mobility. The data from India Human Development Survey 2012 has been used in this study which collects data on fathers’ and sons’ educational and occupational information. This study uses mobility matrices and aggregate measures based on them to understand the son’s position with respect to the father’s position. It is evident from this study that educational and occupational mobility in Bengal is associated with the social position of the caste groups. In comparison to the other castes, the Forward caste has a higher proportion of sons who have completed higher education. In comparison to the other caste groups, the sons of the Forward caste experienced the least downward mobility in education. On the other hand, upward mobility is highest among the Forward caste and lowest among the OBC. The caste-based pattern is also prevalent in downward mobility, immobility and upward mobility in occupation. The sons of the Forward caste had the greatest upward mobility, followed by SC and OBC. On the contrary, down mobility is highest for the SC’s son followed by the OBC and Forward caste. It is quite clear that caste does matter and matters deeply in Bengal’s socio-economic landscape.
Unrest in the Forest and Ethnocide of the Gothi-Koya Tribes in India
Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Ahead of Print.
The story is of IDP (internally displaced people), particularly of the Gothi-Koya communities, who were compelled to escape from the forests of Chhattisgarh, and are now arbitrarily residing in the deep forests of Telangana State. Their arrival took place specifically during the period of Salva–Judum. Following the debates and demands of human rights activists and intellectuals in connection with the over-violence and illegitimacy of the armed-squad, the Supreme Court of India outlawed it later. The article is based on around a month visit, in the year 2019, to these regions namely Kornapalli, Kristadampadu village of Cherla Block and Pushkunta village of Dammapet Block of Bhadradri Kothagudem District in Telangana. These regions are flanked by dense forests and have been highly sensitive because of their connection with Naxalite movements, and the settlements of the Koyas are scattered, so the researchers had to face various challenges in investigating the issues on a wider scale over there. Researchers made conversation with the displaced people along with the government officials to probe the issue and experienced their plight in their observation.
The story is of IDP (internally displaced people), particularly of the Gothi-Koya communities, who were compelled to escape from the forests of Chhattisgarh, and are now arbitrarily residing in the deep forests of Telangana State. Their arrival took place specifically during the period of Salva–Judum. Following the debates and demands of human rights activists and intellectuals in connection with the over-violence and illegitimacy of the armed-squad, the Supreme Court of India outlawed it later. The article is based on around a month visit, in the year 2019, to these regions namely Kornapalli, Kristadampadu village of Cherla Block and Pushkunta village of Dammapet Block of Bhadradri Kothagudem District in Telangana. These regions are flanked by dense forests and have been highly sensitive because of their connection with Naxalite movements, and the settlements of the Koyas are scattered, so the researchers had to face various challenges in investigating the issues on a wider scale over there. Researchers made conversation with the displaced people along with the government officials to probe the issue and experienced their plight in their observation.
From Manholes to Roboholes: A Technology-Based Solution for Sanitation Workers
Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Ahead of Print.
Safai Karmachari Andolan informed the Supreme Court that in 2021 on a daily basis approximately 4.97 lakh dry toilets were serviced by animals and 7.94 lakh were serviced manually. An article in the Hindustan Times of 8 January 2021 (India News, 2021) proposed that the government provides every manual scavenger 10 lakh so that each might liberate himself/herself from the occupation and adopt an alternate livelihood. In 1993, 2012 and 2013, three acts were proposed for reformation and rehabilitation of manual scavengers but little to no rehabilitation has occurred. There are scant government records of scavengers or sanitation workers available. According to the 2011 census, manual scavenging is categorized as a domain of unskilled work performed by unorganized labour. This article addresses the categorization of manual scavengers as sanitation workers, the social exclusion criteria for sanitation workers and how robotic technology can rehabilitate sanitation workers and uplift them socially. The article relies on semi-structured interviews conducted in two demographic regions of Haryana state in India where robotic technology is currently being used.
Safai Karmachari Andolan informed the Supreme Court that in 2021 on a daily basis approximately 4.97 lakh dry toilets were serviced by animals and 7.94 lakh were serviced manually. An article in the Hindustan Times of 8 January 2021 (India News, 2021) proposed that the government provides every manual scavenger 10 lakh so that each might liberate himself/herself from the occupation and adopt an alternate livelihood. In 1993, 2012 and 2013, three acts were proposed for reformation and rehabilitation of manual scavengers but little to no rehabilitation has occurred. There are scant government records of scavengers or sanitation workers available. According to the 2011 census, manual scavenging is categorized as a domain of unskilled work performed by unorganized labour. This article addresses the categorization of manual scavengers as sanitation workers, the social exclusion criteria for sanitation workers and how robotic technology can rehabilitate sanitation workers and uplift them socially. The article relies on semi-structured interviews conducted in two demographic regions of Haryana state in India where robotic technology is currently being used.
Book review: Nandini Oza, The Struggle for Narmada: An Oral History of the Narmada Bachao Andolan by Adivasi Leaders Keshavbhau and Kevalsingh Vasave
Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Ahead of Print.
Nandini Oza, The Struggle for Narmada: An Oral History of the Narmada Bachao Andolan by Adivasi Leaders Keshavbhau and Kevalsingh Vasave. Orient BlackSwan, 2022, 320 pp., ₹915. ISBN: 978-9354422973.
Nandini Oza, The Struggle for Narmada: An Oral History of the Narmada Bachao Andolan by Adivasi Leaders Keshavbhau and Kevalsingh Vasave. Orient BlackSwan, 2022, 320 pp., ₹915. ISBN: 978-9354422973.
Dalit Politics in India: A Critical Overview
Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Ahead of Print.
The origin of Dalit assertion and politics has a long tradition. The main objective of Dalit assertion and politics was to transform the age-old caste-based hierarchical structure of Indian society based on liberty, equality, fraternity and social justice as envisaged by Dr B. R. Ambedkar. During this long period, the nature of Dalit politics has varied from issue to issue and from context to context. During the seven and half decades of our independence, we have witnessed a massive change, like politics in general and Dalit politics in particular. Up to 1980, we have seen a comprehensive Dalit movement in different parts of India. After that time, it is tough to organize such comprehensive politics, especially in the urban centres. Due to selfishness, personal greed for power and other gains of Dalit leaders and activists, Dalit politics become much more fragmented, localized and depoliticized. Not only that, but identity politics also divided the Dalits into different caste and sub-caste groups. Due to these reasons, it is hard to make grand solidarity in politics among different Dalit castes and other weaker sections of Indian society. We have recently seen a new swing in Dalit politics that is very aware, assertive, organized, well-connected, inclusive and beyond party politics. In this study, the author wants to draw a brief sketch of the history of Dalit politics. Further, he wants to explore the changing nature of Dalit politics. In this context, he has tried to discuss the impact of the depoliticization of Dalit politics by the Dalit leaders and the caste identity politics within Dalit caste groups in forming grand solidarity in Dalit politics in India.
The origin of Dalit assertion and politics has a long tradition. The main objective of Dalit assertion and politics was to transform the age-old caste-based hierarchical structure of Indian society based on liberty, equality, fraternity and social justice as envisaged by Dr B. R. Ambedkar. During this long period, the nature of Dalit politics has varied from issue to issue and from context to context. During the seven and half decades of our independence, we have witnessed a massive change, like politics in general and Dalit politics in particular. Up to 1980, we have seen a comprehensive Dalit movement in different parts of India. After that time, it is tough to organize such comprehensive politics, especially in the urban centres. Due to selfishness, personal greed for power and other gains of Dalit leaders and activists, Dalit politics become much more fragmented, localized and depoliticized. Not only that, but identity politics also divided the Dalits into different caste and sub-caste groups. Due to these reasons, it is hard to make grand solidarity in politics among different Dalit castes and other weaker sections of Indian society. We have recently seen a new swing in Dalit politics that is very aware, assertive, organized, well-connected, inclusive and beyond party politics. In this study, the author wants to draw a brief sketch of the history of Dalit politics. Further, he wants to explore the changing nature of Dalit politics. In this context, he has tried to discuss the impact of the depoliticization of Dalit politics by the Dalit leaders and the caste identity politics within Dalit caste groups in forming grand solidarity in Dalit politics in India.
Quest for Social Justice: A comparative study of Panchanan Barma and Dr B. R. Ambedkar
Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Ahead of Print.
The concept of ideal society largely depends on one’s perception, experience and interactions with the given society. Thus it is ‘contextual’ and ‘relational’ in reality. While reality determines the nature of one’s ideas, the transformation of his ideas gets denials from traditional perceptions, taboos and vested interests. All these features of ideas and activism have been found in the lives and works of Panchanan Barma (1865–1935) and Dr B. R. Ambedkar (1890–1956). Both of them were the products of their times. Thus their ideas on an ideal society got maturity through the interactions with their contemporary society. Hence, their attempts at attaining ‘justice’ and ‘equality’ for an ‘ideal society’ were the outcome of their ideas on ‘just society’ and ‘equality’ and finding probable ways for attaining ‘self-reliance’ to fight against injustice. This article seeks to analyse the concept of social justice of Panchanan Barma (the father of the Rajbanshi community of Bengal) and to compare it with that of Dr B. R. Ambedkar (who has been accepted as the ‘Father of the Indian Constitution’).
The concept of ideal society largely depends on one’s perception, experience and interactions with the given society. Thus it is ‘contextual’ and ‘relational’ in reality. While reality determines the nature of one’s ideas, the transformation of his ideas gets denials from traditional perceptions, taboos and vested interests. All these features of ideas and activism have been found in the lives and works of Panchanan Barma (1865–1935) and Dr B. R. Ambedkar (1890–1956). Both of them were the products of their times. Thus their ideas on an ideal society got maturity through the interactions with their contemporary society. Hence, their attempts at attaining ‘justice’ and ‘equality’ for an ‘ideal society’ were the outcome of their ideas on ‘just society’ and ‘equality’ and finding probable ways for attaining ‘self-reliance’ to fight against injustice. This article seeks to analyse the concept of social justice of Panchanan Barma (the father of the Rajbanshi community of Bengal) and to compare it with that of Dr B. R. Ambedkar (who has been accepted as the ‘Father of the Indian Constitution’).
Book review: Rup Kumar Barman, The Raidak: A Transnational River from Bhutan to Bangladesh Through India
Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Ahead of Print.
Rup Kumar Barman, The Raidak: A Transnational River from Bhutan to Bangladesh Through India. Mittal Publications, 2021, 126 pp., ₹600 (Hard Bound).
Rup Kumar Barman, The Raidak: A Transnational River from Bhutan to Bangladesh Through India. Mittal Publications, 2021, 126 pp., ₹600 (Hard Bound).
Aesthetics and Politics of Dalit Women’s Writings Within Indian Pedagogic Practices
Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Volume 15, Issue 1_suppl, Page S56-S66, August 2023.
With a postmodern shift and with the emergence of Dalit women’s standpoint, the feminist discourse itself has witnessed significant changes. The ‘double marginalization’ which Dalit women have been subjected to because of their caste location has graded down the monolith of gender identity. The emergence of Dalit women’s standpoint has also reworked how aesthetics and politics on Dalit women’s writings have been taken up within the Indian pedagogic practices. These new pedagogic engagements include processes such as the inclusion of newer curriculum and courses on Dalit writings, translation work of Dalit writings and the inclusion of theoretical works on Dalit women writings within the curriculum. This paper aims to understand the aesthetics and politics of Dalit women’s writings, particularly in the Hindi-speaking belt of India, and the interaction of such writings within the select Indian pedagogic practices. Through the select pedagogic practices the paper will explore the new kinds of discursive engagements that are done with these Dalit women’s writings per se. The paper will explore the absence/presence of Dalit women’s writings and also explore how the ‘representation’ of these writings is taken up within the mainstream Indian pedagogic practices. The paper further explores the popular spaces in which Dalit women’s writings have flourished and the tensions that exist, between what gets included and what remains excluded from the pedagogic practices, when it comes to Dalit women’s writings. The paper also explores the new aesthetic sensibility and the politics that have played a dynamic role in the emergence of Dalit women writings, and how the existing pedagogic practices have perceived them.
With a postmodern shift and with the emergence of Dalit women’s standpoint, the feminist discourse itself has witnessed significant changes. The ‘double marginalization’ which Dalit women have been subjected to because of their caste location has graded down the monolith of gender identity. The emergence of Dalit women’s standpoint has also reworked how aesthetics and politics on Dalit women’s writings have been taken up within the Indian pedagogic practices. These new pedagogic engagements include processes such as the inclusion of newer curriculum and courses on Dalit writings, translation work of Dalit writings and the inclusion of theoretical works on Dalit women writings within the curriculum. This paper aims to understand the aesthetics and politics of Dalit women’s writings, particularly in the Hindi-speaking belt of India, and the interaction of such writings within the select Indian pedagogic practices. Through the select pedagogic practices the paper will explore the new kinds of discursive engagements that are done with these Dalit women’s writings per se. The paper will explore the absence/presence of Dalit women’s writings and also explore how the ‘representation’ of these writings is taken up within the mainstream Indian pedagogic practices. The paper further explores the popular spaces in which Dalit women’s writings have flourished and the tensions that exist, between what gets included and what remains excluded from the pedagogic practices, when it comes to Dalit women’s writings. The paper also explores the new aesthetic sensibility and the politics that have played a dynamic role in the emergence of Dalit women writings, and how the existing pedagogic practices have perceived them.
Locating Kashmiriyat in Ancient History: Tracing the Genealogy of Kashmir’s Syncretic Culture
Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Ahead of Print.
The discourse on Kashmiriyat (or Kasheryut) was majorly invoked in the late twentieth-century Kashmir by diverse, often conflicting, ideological strands to legitimize their respective political positioning in the context of post-1947 political stirrings in Jammu and Kashmir. However, the discourse has remained shrouded in ambiguity owing to the multiple, disparate meanings and connotations attached to it. More commonly the term has been understood to imply a syncretic culture of Kashmir devoid of religious fundamentalism and exclusion.KLSo far as the historicity of Kashmiriyat is concerned, the existing scholarly writings on the discourse have tried to locate its origins in the medieval times when the interaction and subsequent synthesis occurred between Hinduism and Islam in Kashmir; a mystic manifestation, Rishism, is often referred as the best example of this ideational formation. However, the paper attempts to argue that while the idea of Kashmiriyat as syncretic culture of Kashmir devoid of religious fundamentalism holds ground, it cannot be clearly steered away from a particular religious affiliation altogether. Secondly, this paper challenges the existing historicity and ideational trajectory of Kashmiriyat and instead attempts to trace its genealogy to Kashmir’s ancient past.
The discourse on Kashmiriyat (or Kasheryut) was majorly invoked in the late twentieth-century Kashmir by diverse, often conflicting, ideological strands to legitimize their respective political positioning in the context of post-1947 political stirrings in Jammu and Kashmir. However, the discourse has remained shrouded in ambiguity owing to the multiple, disparate meanings and connotations attached to it. More commonly the term has been understood to imply a syncretic culture of Kashmir devoid of religious fundamentalism and exclusion.KLSo far as the historicity of Kashmiriyat is concerned, the existing scholarly writings on the discourse have tried to locate its origins in the medieval times when the interaction and subsequent synthesis occurred between Hinduism and Islam in Kashmir; a mystic manifestation, Rishism, is often referred as the best example of this ideational formation. However, the paper attempts to argue that while the idea of Kashmiriyat as syncretic culture of Kashmir devoid of religious fundamentalism holds ground, it cannot be clearly steered away from a particular religious affiliation altogether. Secondly, this paper challenges the existing historicity and ideational trajectory of Kashmiriyat and instead attempts to trace its genealogy to Kashmir’s ancient past.